KiwiRail has completed the first phase of work on the Rangitata River rail bridge, where one of the 34 piers was washed away in flood waters on Friday.

KiwiRail Chief Infrastructure Officer, André Lovatt said they have now begun building the temporary supports that will allow the bridge to re-open.

“With lower river levels we were able to undertake a detailed inspection of the damage to the bridge on Sunday. Work began immediately to divert the river flow away from where the pier was.

“Our civil contractors have been working up and downstream to temporarily divert the main river flow from the North to the South bank and drain water from around the pier site.

 “There is a staged process to go through from here. Our work now is focused on first making the bridge safe by ensuring the sagging spans do not collapse, which could fall into the river and damage the adjacent road bridge. We will then install a temporary structure to replace the pier and allow trains to resume running over the bridge.

“Today we are beginning to build the structure, known as a pigsty, which will allow us to get the sagging spans back into alignment” Lovatt said.

A 250-tonne crane is on site and will be used to drive steel caissons into the riverbed from tomorrow.

These will form part of the temporary support for the bridge.

 At this stage KiwiRail expects to have the bridge reopened to trains towards the end of next week, provided the river flows remain at current levels and working conditions remain safe.

They will then begin work on the permanent replacement of the pier.

KiwiRail is also undertaking work to find the missing pier, which could be buried in the river downstream.